Islanders finding dirty needles, still waiting on clean solutions

By, Marley Durant Oct. 6, 2022

Samantha Martell was walking from her car to her office in Glendenning residence when a bright orange cap caught her eye.

A needle in the grass.

It stayed in the same spot for two weeks. Then it was gone.

Three capped needles on the ground under an apartment complex's garbage bin on Euston Street. (Photo by, Marley Durant)

That was the first time Martell had ever seen a needle on the ground.

She isn't the only one finding dirty needles.

Ashley Nelson is a manager of Highmart Convience on Queen street in Charlottetown.

Nelson found a few needles in the alleyway beside the store just a few months ago.

Nelson didn't know what she was supposed to do so she left them.

Many neighborhood discussion groups on Facebook have been sharing photos of needles found in bathrooms of restaurants, local parks and even on the Confederation Trail.

The P.E.I Department of Health and Wellness has announced support and services that will be launched this year in Island communities to help deal with the waste.

One of those services is adding more injection disposal bins.

The Government of PEI has purchased sharps bins for public areas more than three months ago, but it is unclear as to when these bins will be added to public spaces.

Holland College student Richard Breen is in his second year of the Human services program and would love to see the bins added to public spaces.

“I think they would be a really awesome benefit. I am taking a substance abuse course, and a lot of people have a negative thing to it where they say, ‘oh you're just enabling them,’ but we are talking about sick people, and we need to help them.

Richard Breen, second year Human Services student wants more help for those struggling with addiction. (Photo by, Marley Durant)

Not everyone feels the same.

Charles Mills, owner of The Bookman on Queen Street, wasn’t aware that needles were an issue in Charlottetown.

He isn't fully convinced that the bin would make a difference, and he doesn't think people would actually use it.

“It would all depend on where it’s at and how it’s set up.”

As of November 2022, an injection disposal bin has been installed on the corner of the outreach centre's property on Euston Street.

Kaleigh Hilts lives in the Glendenning residence on Grafton street.

For her, the bins are about more than just the people struggling with addiction, they could be used for anyone who needs to dispose of medical waste.

"People will go straight to drug use, but there are people who have to inject things like insulin, or if they have cerebral palsy, sometimes they have a feeding tube and that involves needles, you don't necessarily have to go into a grocery store or up to the bathroom or something like that."